Dragon Anatomy

Here's something a little different. It's a piece I did a few years ago for a book titled The Practical Guide to Dragons. It's a watercolor which reveals that dragons, like us, are full of icky-but-interesting interior organs. This is the first and only time I've painted a liver!

Researching this piece was an interesting experience and it was fun to work out just which organs went where and how they all fit together inside the dragon.

The Fire Giant King

This illustration was created for the March issue of Dungeon magazine (issue #200). It depicts a character named Snurre Ironbelly and from what I understand, illustrates an article that updates a classic Gary Gygax-penned D&D adventure.

I'm including the sketch, which I actually prefer to the painting, although I'm happy with both. The creatures flanking the Fire Giant's throne are hellhounds. I can't claim their design but I was asked to include them in this scene.

The sketch and the painting were created in Adobe Photoshop. The king is partially composed of flame and is surrounded by fire and lava so I kept the colors in the picture very warm to reinforce that pervasive light and heat.

Craud

What's that you say? You'd like me to design a creature based on a shrimp? Okay!

That was the genesis of this fellow, known as a Craud, who appeared in a D&D Monster Manual. There are few things I enjoy drawing more than monsters, especially when I can make one up from scratch.

I just wanted to share this guy. I'll have another update tomorrow!

Goblins! Part 2

As I promised yesterday, I'm posting the large, burly goblin design today. Again, these designs were done for The Workshop.

These goblins are nocturnal creatures so I gave them eyes more like those of a cat (or even a reptile) than those of a human. I like the idea that two creatures of such different size and stature are members of the same species. We see that kind of variation in humans so why wouldn't we see it in goblins? If species such as goblins, dwarves, elves, hobbits, etc. actually existed, I suspect there would be significant differences in the height, weight and bone structure of individuals, just like the differences we see amongst ourselves.

Goblins! Part 1

A while back I did some goblin concept drawings for The Workshop, a California-based game company. They were looking for designs that would be somewhat unique and would straddle the line between whimsical and formidable while still keeping the creatures recognizable as goblins. There were to be two basic types, wiry little goblins and big, burly goblins. I worked up some ideas and you can see the design for the small goblin above. I will post the big fellow tomorrow.

We tried a few different skin colors, including orange-hued skin and a mustard green but ultimately, decided the green you can see in the artwork was best.

Dreamblade Designs

I did these miniature designs for Dreamblade years ago. If I remember correctly, at least two of them weren't produced, so this is the first time at least some of these drawings have seen the light of day. As always with miniature designs, I created a front and back view for the sculptors to work from.

The first image is an "electric sheep". He's actually more of a steampunk sheep because the idea was to create something with a clockwork or industrial revolution feel rather than a more contemporary robot sheep. I've always been very fond of this drawing.

The second entry is the truly disgusting Pus Cannon and this one may have been produced (I honestly can't recall). My assignment was to design a creature that literally had an organic cannon on it's back. It was to be covered in lumps and sores, some of them oozing. Yes, it's gross and yes, it was a blast to draw and yes, you're probably relieved that this piece isn't in color!

The third design was a great idea and I wish it had been produced. The concept was to have an invisible, gelatinous blob creature (not unlike the green, blobby aliens in some episodes of Futurama) that used a fake, friendly grandmother as a lure, like an anglerfish uses a dangling light to lure prey. If the miniature had been produced, the grandmother would have been made of opaque, painted plastic and encased in the blob, which would have been made of clear plastic. It would have been awesome! Ah, what could have been... unfortunately, they decided it was going to be too difficult to pull off.

Merchant

Temperatures have been as high as 80 degrees here in Chicago lately, which is extremely unusual at this time of year. It's been nice to work with the windows open and get out of my "art cave"into the sunlight a little. In that spirit, here's a sunlit picture I painted for the recently released Dungeons and Dragons board game Lords of Waterdeep. It depicts a deal being made between a merchant and an adventurer. I managed to keep it a little more loose and painterly than usual and I was pleased with the results.